Monthly Archives: January 2011

For years, the only dances held at Meeker High School was Homecoming and Prom. Well, that is about to change. On February 19, there will be a Sadie Hawkins Sweetheart Ball and it is ladies choice. The dance itself will be from 9:00 pm-12:00 am. There will be a poker table and other games.

The tradition of the Sadie Hawkins dance was started by a comic strip called Li’l Abner by Al Capp that came out in the 1930’s. According to the story, Sadie was the “homeliest gal in the hills” who had all the bachelors running in the other direction. So her father came up with the first Sadie Hawkins dance, where all the single women could chace the single men with matrimony as consequence. Once the comic got more popular, so did the holiday.

Schools began to pick up on the holiday and started to have dances on the Saturday after November 9th, the same way it happened in Li’l Abner, but now are held any time between November and February.

Now, if the girl askes a boy to the dance, they don’t have to get married, but they are given a night of dancing and games. Couples get in for $5.oo and individuals for$3.00. The dance is semi-formal dress and is sponsored by FFA.

Space Cowboy, Funky Chicken, California Rush and Airplaning are just a few different names for the “Choking Game.”

It seems commonly known that the game is dangerous but why is the “Choking Game” dangerous?  The “Choking Game” has been around since the 1800s.  Back then it was called the Harvey Wallbanger, which was an adult drink but used as a code name.

To begin, the “Choking Game,” lives up to its nickname.  Just like marijuana or cocaine, teens choke themselves to get a brief similar type of high.  In this case kids keep track of their “high time” to compete with other teens.  The game itself is prepared like any other where there are rules.  The first rule: everyone playing must get choked once and let the new players play first.

Teens on the internet warn kids that if they are looking at the “Choking Game” online to always delete their internet history.  The internet, cell phones and even gaming stations are all ways for kids to find out how to play the game.

“Choking Game” bloggers give details on how to choke themselves.  One blogger gives his way of playing the game for those who don’t “want to die!”  He gives a detailed plan, with spotters, on how to attain the desired “trip.”  There is no reason to share the techniques involved in the interests of safety, but the name alone speaks for itself.

The CDC says that only 82 kids have died from the game since 1995. This is wrong, and the CDC had admitted to it but it is not their fault.  Most of the “Choking Game” deaths are ruled as suicides and are yet to be proven otherwise.

What does the choking game do to your body?

The “Choking Game,” is not just a game.  Some little 4^th grader hanging out with his friends trying to find out who can hold their breath longer is unfortunately playing the “Choking Game.”  The biggest problem with the game is asphyxia, which is being deprived of oxygen.   The lack of oxygen can lead to horrible brain damage and kills many brain cells.

Brain cells transfer information and if they die then your brain will take longer to transmit information or keep memories.

Many parents wonder about the “Choking Game” and what to look for in their children.  The signs are easy to see but hard to catch.  Kids will have marks on their necks, bloodshot eyes and terrible headaches.  That of course is not all to look for because teens will be more irritable, wear high neck shirts, disoriented and have ties and ropes hanging in their rooms.

The “Choking Game” is killing kids, make no mistake.  No matter what is said on the internet or how safe it is told to be; it is dangerous and sooner or later it will kill you.

Mrs. Kelley and Miss Cheri’s Reading and Writing classes gathered on January 17th. The  room was silenced as Mr. Washburn  walked in. He walked forward with eyes that held pain, and a smile  that defined  his personality. He explained the importance  of  explanitory writing and how it may hold someones future in its bindings.

Washburn pacing back and forth and the classes’ eyes and ears set forward to hear  more. His  stories felt as if the class were watching a movie, with a brave man moving forward with life.

He painted an image of  two things ; the  scene and the endearment.

It takes a brave  man to  prosper, and Mr. Washburn is one. More than a police officer but  someone who is willing to tell the  truth and set an example, which in return is more than appreciated. The brave truly make a diffrence in the eyes of  those  who witness their presence .

Thank you, once again Mr.Washburn

When the word Broadway is brought up, I think of the best of the best. People who not only have worked for hours to train their voices, but have taken small useless parts in productions for years just to get to their current spot on Broadway. For as long as anyone can remember, Broadway has been the top notch dancers, singers, and actors. They have to be well rounded in all departments and need to be tough enough to handle 12 hour rehearsals.

That is Broadway.

Green Day’s American Idiot was considered one of the hardest productions to be in. With all the stunts and brutal dance choreography, this show has had performer after performer taking time out because of injuries or exhaustion. This show is no joke.

The standards have dropped. Recently there have been performers who aren’t trained in acting, dancing, and have never set foot on “Planet Broadway.”

One of the most crucial characters in this show is a slightly off, life of the party type character named St. Jimmy. The singer and songwriter (who also helped write the on-stage version of AI) Billie Joe Armstrong has just stepped into this role, without training, without very many rehearsals, and without a clue.

The production has also just announced that for one week only, Mellisa Etheridge, will be playing the part of St. Jimmy. She’s never had any acting experience. She never went to school to get a degree in anything theater related. Nevertheless, she will be on Broadway.

So much for the best of the best right?

For example, the new musical Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark, has had nothing but problems since day one. From problems with the flying rig to the set falling apart, the opening night of this show was a disaster. The elapsed time of the show came out at a whopping 3 hours and 44 minutes. For a show that costs $289 dollars a ticket that is really not acceptable.

With critics everywhere calling this show an “epic flop,” the band U2 picked the wrong show to put their name and music into. It is still being postponed and has no further information on when the show will try to open again.

As you can see, Broadway has lowered everything that it once stood for. You no longer have to have experience or be good on stage, all you have to do is have a famous name. If this keeps up, I cancel my plans on the Broadway scene.

Colorado math standards are insulting the student, because they are creating a new lesson plan to fit a student without common sense. The new teachings will show how what is being  taught in the math class  will relate  to life, which isn’t a bad thing, but truly, shouldn’t common sense realization be made in the real life not in a class room?

Schools are there to teach us tools that will benefit us. Yet is the school getting too involved? Perhaps the younger generation just might be getting lazier.

It may very well be time to re-integrate a few old rules and old teachings. It’s time to get the younger generation prepared for what is ahead in life, because teachers aren’t always gonna be there to walk them through everything and  tell them what they should do.

Then again if one should not teach common sense in schools where  will it be taught?  Should this  be left to the parents or maybe other head figures in children’s lives?

What we should be looking for isn’t a fountain of youth but a fountain of common sense. What we do know is that the  younger generation is becoming dependent on anything and everything.  Take a stand for a little common sense to get put back into life or just sit there and let whatever they watched on t.v. last night dictate how they live.

Charley Adams called the meeting to order at 1:27p.m on January 11,2011.

Treasure Report was $1,522.88.

Committees:

• Community Service Committee will be run by Aubrey Walsh and Sydney Boes
• School Pep. and Spirit Committee will be headed by Elissa McLaughlin and Denee Chintala
• Holiday and Seasonal Events are lead by Deena Norell and J.C Henderson
• Fundraising  is directed by Amanda Kendal and Lathrop Hughes

Club Reports

• FBLA wanted to do the 3-point contest on Saturday.
• FCCLA had no new reports
• National Honor Society also had nothing new
• FFA are planning a dance Febuary 19,2011

The meeting was adjourned at 1:39p.m.

Suicide is nothing to ignore; this decision is beyond all others. It is one of the most powerful, hurtful, and weakest things a person can do.

Unfortunately, I had fallen victim to its allure.

The events leading to my dark time are demeaning and I pray and hope that you avoid horrible things that happened to me. 

For years it was buried, then came a recollection of my past events leading me to the thought of that eternal release from this world.

With depression, everything was meaningless. I felt no reason to even get up in the morning. The way I saw things; there was no silver lining, just a dark looming shadow casted over me. Nothing was real anymore, like I was living in a bad dream.

For the last two years, I have fought with myself, as well as everyone and everything around me. After each time I cut myself, I knew I couldn’t cheat my way out of this; I had to awake from this miserable, empty prison.

I was at my breaking point, when something tremendous woke me up. I realized I was hurting my family. That was when I made the strongest decision that I’ve ever made–to go to a psychiatric hospital. I was suicidal, and that broke my family’s hearts wide open.

My guts twisted and fear begged me turn back. My family walked behind me as we got closer and closer to the hospital entrance with the sign reading, “Colorado West Regional Mental Health Center.” Then, I was surrounded by other patients who were like me. They too were suicidal.

The doctors called us patients “it”. The other patients I met there became the people I cared most for, and I developed a new way of thinking by listening to all of their stories. I couldn’t believe the things those other people had gone through. It was too real.

The whole time I was in the hospital, I could feel myself healing. Slowly but surely I began to appreciate all of the little things in my life– things I had once overlooked. Everything started to come clear and I began to feel like everything would be okay. I started to laugh and smile again. My eyes had gained back that twinkle, and I couldn’t wait to go back home and show everyone the real me; the one who was held captive for two years.

To this day I am treated for depression, I am on anti-depressant medications. I am greatly thankful for Colorado West Regional Mental Heath. They unleashed my life and now I can accomplish so much more than I ever could before.

Meet Scott Bird.

You can call him Bird, Scotty, Cowboy, or just plain Scott if you’d like. He moved here in October from Nucla, CO., because of his dad’s job.

Way back when, Scott lived in Meeker. He likes small towns because of the tight-nit communities; thus, Meeker’s the perfect place for him. He likes Meeker because of all the family memories he and his family have shared here.

Nucla was much smaller than Meeker, believe it or not. The population was a pretty big change for Scott. In Nucla, his junior class had only 8 people in it. The classes here are neither easier or harder for Scott. “They are right at my level”, he stated.

Scott doesn’t play much sports; he’s more of a musician. He plays the guitar, banjo, mandolin, and the bass. In his spare time he enjoys playing his music, riding horses, and painting.

Let’s welcome Bird to Meeker High School, and if you’re interesting in music, horses, or art make sure and hit him up sometime!

Recently my co-worker and editor in chief of the newspaper, Evan Jordan, posted an article titled “A Teenager’s Guide To Parenting”.  He mentioned his views on how parenting has changed in the past years and how he thinks it should change in the future. Now I wanted to add my piece on the subject.

I believe that the biggest mistake that parents make is not realized how they affect their children. Children learn the basics of life from their parents. Everything from speaking to their early childhood beliefs. They grow up trusting almost every word that their parents say.

When children grow up and morph into their own person, the first thing that I think they look for the response of their parents. They start to try the things they like, instead of what their parents like. While they’re going through all this guessing and testing, a parent’s point of view can be crucial. Some kids may want their parents to gush with pride and be so happy with their changes, while others want a negative response to “rebel” or get revenge on their parents. This is all very typical of a teenagers.

As I mentioned before, the biggest mistake that I think a parent could make is not knowing the huge impact that they have on who their child becomes. When they start to be their own person, tearing them down and not accepting them could lead to insecurities for the rest of their lives. Not only does it make their child feel insecure about themselves, it lowers a child’s opinion of their parent. It is teaching them to degrade and be negative towards things that they don’t agree with. If you really think about it, is it more embarrassing to have a kid that wears clothes that you don’t approve of, or to have a horrible attitude and outlook on life?

It’s a vicious cycle. I believe that the reason that my father used to be so negative towards me is because of receiving poor treatment from his father.

I recently learned a piece of my father’s life that I never knew existed. When he was young, he wanted one thing more than anything in the world. To play baseball. It was his favorite activity and what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. His father disagreed. His father’s opinion was baseball was a waste of time and no way for a high schooler to spend valuable studying time. My grandpa drilled it into my dad’s head that there was no way a person could make a living by playing baseball, it was too hard and my dad wasn’t good enough. Instead of fighting back like some kids today would, he gave in and became a computer programmer like everyone around him caving into his father.

My 7th grade year, my father continued this cycle and tried to do the same thing to me that his father did to him. And why wouldn’t you expect that? When your parents are the ones that show you how to live, how could you not expect them follow what they have been shown?

Parents lead by actions, much more than words. You can tell your child that drinking is bad, but if you drink every single night, they’re going to imitate you–because they love you and want to be just like you.

Does homework really help test scores?

Workers from Binghamton University and the University of Nevada have been working on a study that shows how homework effects kids.  They have found that homework may help very high, and very low achieving students but really do not help the kids who are average learners.

90 percent of students say that homework causes extra stress.  And with the amount of homework being tripled since 1981 it is only fitting that kids are constantly stressed out.  Turning to drugs and other things to deal with the stress.

Many parents say that their kids are logging over 45 minutes of homework in elementary school and they believe that the kids need more time to be able to play.  But what about the other side of homework?  Can it actually help?

Over 60 studies were done at Duke University between 1987 and 2003 showing that homework does have a positive effect on students.  The study also showed that any homework over 10 minutes really is just a waste of time.  They call it the ten minute rule.

Many teachers in elementary say that it is not for the academics but more for the time management.  They believe that homework will influence the kids to use their time wisely when they grow up.

Looking at both sides of the story, homework has its pros and cons.  But many studies done show that anything over about ten minutes is really just a waste of time and resources.

Written in conjunction with Kaitlyn Dinwiddie.

Coach Deb Henderson stated, “It’s not just the wins and losses but the journey we go through growing as a team and as a sport.”

During a special meeting on December 29, 2010 the school board accepted Neil Joy’s, former head coach, resignation. Thus, the school board were looking for a new head coach for the Meeker girls basketball team. On January 4 they chose Deb Henderson for the job.

Before Henderson moved to Meeker she was a head coach in Glenwood Springs for four years, Eagle Valley for five years and was an assistant coach at Mesa State for a year.  Later she moved to Meeker and has been here for five years.  In that time she coached the eighth grade girls last year, the team went undefeated. This year she coached the eighth grade boys, they also went undefeated.

This year  Coach Henderson has thirty-six high school girls. She says, “they are all hard workers, they just want to play basketball and have fun.” Deb stepped up to be the head coach of the Meeker girls basketball program so that she could be there for the girls, and also give back to the community.

“I want it to be about the athletes and what they want”, says Coach Deb Henderson.  She is prepared to come out full force for the rest of the season.

Events led up to a shooting on Saturday morning at 10:00 am, near the Tucson area, where law maker Gabrielle Giffords held a meeting outside of Safeway with constituents. This has been billed as her first “congress on your corner” meeting for 2011.  Moments later, emergency officials scrambled their way to the scene where seventeen people were shot, including  Gabrielle Giffords, Christina Green (a nine year old girl), and John Roll (a federal judge who had served congress since 1991). Another victim being an older man, who died taking a bullet for his wife who ended up getting wounded, although her husbands death may have saved her life. The shooter was stopped by a fellow citizen who jumped on him and held him down until authorities arrived.

The shooter was later identified as twenty-two year-old Jared Loughner. Loughner attended Pima Community College in Tucson, where his peers and professors noticed something a little strange about him. Some say last year was a breaking point for him, because when he was suspended from Pima on September 29, he never returned. After the incident occurred, there was a tent found in Loughner’s backyard, that contained a human skull. It was later concluded that Loughner was a devil worshipper. Authorities believe that this could have influenced the murders.

The people affected by this, are every day Americans who will remain changed forever because of one man’s actions. Jared is not allowed bail and may be in prison for the rest of his life or sentenced to death for the murder of a judge.

Jared Loughner, 22

Many people complain about how small our school is,  but where else do you get the chance to talk one-on-one with teachers, and instead of being teacher and student, be friends. One person that many of the students have be-friended, is the alternative school, physical education, and health teacher,  Mr. Jason Browning.

Mr. Browning graduated from Chatfield High School in Littleton, Colorado where his graduating class was over 400 kids. After high school, he went on to Western State College in Gunnison, Colorado, and majored in history with a secondary education license.

He loves to hunt, fish, and play co-ed softball in the summer, but his life has changed drastically since October 4.  He just had a newborn son named Troy to add on to his family of three.

When asked what his inspiration was to become a teacher, he said that he disliked many of his high school teachers and thought that he could do better.  ”I like being around kids and having summers off was not too bad, and I just couldn’t give up summer vacation,” said Browning.

It seems that he is not only a hit with the kids, but also the teachers.  ”He acts as resources for other teachers,” said fellow teacher Cheri Robinson.  We also found out that he brings food from home, and cooks for his students. Also, a lot of the time, the food is made from scratch, not premade or out of the box.  Most students would agree that he gives amazing advice, and has a very open heart when you talk to him.   He listens, thinks, and then gives wise counsel. He also spends a lot of time working on real-world job skills with his students.

Having said all of these things, it is very easy to see why the students look up to him as a role model, and why they chose him as the teacher of the month for December.

What is the recipe of the week?  The recipe is delicious Belgian Waffles.  Why Belgian Waffle?  Because waffles are a great breakfast, and they are easy to make.

The ingredients you will need: 2 cups of flour, 2 teaspoons of baking powder, 2 tablespoons confectioners sugar, 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, 2 cups of milk, 3 eggs separated, 2 teaspoons of vanilla, a pinch of salt, fruit of your choice, and whipped cream.

How to prepare your Belgian Waffles.

First you combine the flour, baking powder, confectioners sugar, oil, milk and yolks.

Second beat the egg whites until they stand in soft peaks and fold in the batter.

Third using a ladle, pour some of the  mixture into a waffle iron and cook for about two minutes.

Repeat with the remaining batter and add the toppings that you would like.

This recipe will make 8 Belgian Waffles.

Enjoy!

On December 14, 2010, Kirstie Smith came and spoke to our class about college, and what you have to do to get there.  She told us what she had to do to get to college and how she found the right college for her.

Your college preparation as a Freshman and as a Sophomore  starts with your grades, volunteering, and extra curricular activities.  As a Junior you will need to start looking for colleges, and doing scholarships.  Finally as a Senior you will have to apply for colleges, and scholarships.

If you thought that getting a good SAT and ACT scores alone would get you in to college you were wrong.  All colleges will look at your grades and other things you have done in school, and what you have done for your community.  Unlike in High School the teacher does not stop in the middle of the class to tell you to pay attention.

Your study habits, when you get into college, will change because you do not get to use a knowledge wall when you take a test.  When you do your homework don’t wait till the last minute to do it, odds are you will forget.  Always use the resources that are given to you.

Be prepared because the teachers do not care if you come to class with out your materials.  It is your responsibility to come to the class prepared with every thing you need.